Recipe for Cranberry Orange Loaf with Chocolate Chips

November 21, 2014

A delicious tea cake where cranberries and chocolate chips come together with a strong citrussy flavour

Thanksgiving is round the corner and Pinterest is so full of Cranberry recipes. Apparently, this was one of the three fruits growing wild in North East America and beyond its edible uses, it was also used to dye rugs, clothes. It was clearly a part of the diet of the Native Americans and that’s how it has become an inherent part of Thanksgiving dinners since the 1600s. Cranberries lend a burst of sharp sourness to any sweet bake, adding a totally new dimension of taste, not to mention, a gorgeous red colour, that is pleasing to the eye

My generous neighbour left me a big stash of groceries when she was moving out from Bangalore to Dubai, stuff she had been saving in her freezer, brought in from different parts of the world. Among other things, there was this bag of frozen cranberries. It has been staring at me in the eye, each time I open my freezer compartment and I’ve been wondering how to put them to good use. I have only eaten cranberries in dried form. The fresh berry in frozen form is MUCH tarter, something that will make you screw your eyes shut as your tastebuds tingle

Cranberry pairs well with white chocolate, as the latter is intensely sweet and the sour of the berry adds such a perfect contrast to it. Orange is also an excellent partner to cranberries, bringing to the table, a mellower tartness and a beautiful citrusy fragrance

This loaf can be made with rehydrated dried cranberries or with any other berries you can lay your hands on. Strawberries are in season in Bangalore now and you can chop them into bite sized pieces and use instead of cranberries

The house was filled with the most amazing aromas when this loaf was baking. Who needs room fresheners, when you can bake your cake and have it too, really!

A bite from one slice had the right level of sweetness. The tartness of cranberries mellows down considerably after baking and the coating in a little sugar surely helped that along. The sweet bursts from the chocolate chunks felt so complimentary to the sour bursts of fruit. It made a perfect bite, beautifully balanced in flavours and boy, was it gorgeous to look at! These are my favourite kind of bakes, simple and delicious 🙂 Do bribe one of your friends travelling abroad to get you a pack of cranberries or try them with what you find locally, you won’t be disappointed at all!